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Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
		P	P	P			P	P

(Best months for planting Turnip in USA - Zone 5a regions)

P = Plant direct in garden where they are to grow.

Round, root vegetable. The flesh is white . Turnips take about 6 to 10 weeks to reach a useable size.

Sow every three or four weeks for a continuous supply.

Water regularly.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Turnip

Grate young turnips and use raw in salads.
Use older turnips in casseroles and stews.

Your comments and tips

16 Mar 13, james dunn (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

looking for superlative swede or turnip can you help? thanks james dunn

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17 Feb 13, (Australia - tropical climate)

I live in Tamworth nsw (north west slopes) we would love to grow turnips ,but to date have had no luck growing them.when to plant & soil..... Anyone please

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12 Aug 12, Al young (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

I planted turnips in late June and by mid August they had gone to seed without producing any edible root stock. Very cold here during growing period; too cold for root development? Cheers, Al

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10 Jun 12, Stella (Australia - tropical climate)

Hello I would like to find out how many seeds would you use 1 or a few in each hole?

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08 Jan 11, Robin (Australia - arid climate)

Is there any way to freeze turnip by cooking in some way or?

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26 May 11, Ian (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi Robin, Yes, you can freeze turnips successfully, but, as with all vegetables you are going to freeze, you must blanch first. Plunge them in boiling water for about 1 minute then refresh in cold. Dry them and they are ready to freeze. Equally successful with broccoli, cabbage, beans etc. Remember - NEVER freeze without blanching first. Good luck!

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18 Jul 10, Tania (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Hi all, It apprears that one of my turnips is growing above ground. Is this what is meant to happen? I thought I'd leave it as all the others only have their folage above ground so I thought this one could be an experiment, but Im not sure this is practical as I dont want to loss the whole crop if they are all meant to appear above ground. Thanks for your help in advance. Tania

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24 Nov 10, John Bee (Australia - tropical climate)

Hi Tania, Sorry for the delay in replying. I only just noticed your question about turnips... I’ve been growing turnips very successfully for years in my home garden. In fact I’ve never seen the swollen stem base (it’s technically not a root) growing actually in the ground. All of mine have always been fully exposed… maybe it’s the variety I use.. Actually it’s very handy in harvesting because I plant very closely and then thin out by removing the largest plant when it is of edible size. And I do that by just feeling amongst the thick foliage to find the largest base and then pull it out and let the smaller ones around it grow to be large enough to harvest on or two weeks later. My major problem with growing turnips is when I grow them in the same piece of ground for a few years in a row, they really get root nematodes quite badly so I must really start a crop rotation system. Cheers John Bee.

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08 Jul 10, dave moss (United Kingdom - cool/temperate climate)

hi, being a novice gardener , first year after retirement, i have planted numerous veg with a limited success, but turnips have been a castraphe, can't spell either, turnips have grown to the size of a jaffa orange, upon pulling 2 up one was split and both were brown inside , not right through but it put us off eating them, can you possibly advise what i have done wrong, thank you dave

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23 Dec 09, pete (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

re turnip spacings - i think 10 cms would be plenty - just so long as they are not hard up against each other

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